Kyle Kuzma says he's 'probably a better passer than' Lonzo Ball

The good-natured ribbing between Lonzo Ball and Kyle Kuzma continued apace at practice before the Los Angeles Lakers took off to play the Portland Trail Blazers up north. While Kuzma has some catching-up to do in his halfcourt shooting competitions with his fellow rookie, the former Utah Utes forward joked that his passing is more than on par with Ball’s.

“I’m probably a better passer than him,” Kuzma quipped.

The 22-year-old also offered some sage advice to Zo about the importance of playing in attack mode.

“He definitely has the extra gear, but for him, I think he needs to play that way every time,” Kuzma explained. “I always tell him that he needs to be aggressive and needs to play with that edge every time because he plays cool sometimes. But when he’s very aggressive and he’s locked in, gets it going in the pace, we’re pretty tough to play against.”

The Lakers will need Ball to be aggressive as they face a challenging back-to-back, beginning in Portland on Thursday and concluding in L.A. against D’Angelo Russell and the Brooklyn Nets on Friday.